What Dreams May Come
by EmilyG
Summary: Amidst the chaos that is her life, Elena is forced to search deep within for her true feelings towards Damon and Stefan.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is my version of what takes place after episode 8. Hope you like it. Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.**

**Disclamer: I own nothing.

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Elena sat in front of her mirror combing her hair. She was tired and the bed reflecting in the mirror looked extra comfortable. Putting her brush down, she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. Knowing it would be Stefan she let out a slight sigh, as much as she loved him there wasn't enough strength in her body to deal with him tonight. Turning around to face him she was surprised to see Damon making himself quite comfortable on her bed. Rolling her eyes she turned back towards the mirror and picked up her brush.

"Is knocking a habit unknown to vampires?" her voice reflected the annoyance she felt towards him

"Do you make Stefan knock?" he was in a playful mood

"That's different" she shot back

"Oh come on Elena" he stood up from the bed "You know you're happy to see me"

"I'm happy to see you leave" her annoyance hasn't diminished

He walked up to her standing behind her chair. She looked up at his reflection in the mirror her eyes gave no indication that she wanted him near her. He smiled seeing her getting worked up over him being close to her. He gently moved her hair away from her shoulder exposing her neck.

"Damon what are you doing?" she demanded to know

"You can't deny your feelings Elena" she leaned in closer to her neck

"Damon don't" she warned him

He kissed her neck lightly sending a shudder through her body

"No" she was pleading with him "I love Stefan"

"Then why aren't you fighting this" she smiled and kissed her neck again.

In her head she knew she had to resist him, but his kiss felt too good to stop. Taking a full advantage of her confusion Damon moved up her neck towards her lips. She didn't fight him. Turning her head slightly towards him he stopped barely an inch away from her lips. She could feel his cold breath her body was on fire from having his so close to her.

"This is what you really want" he whispered and his lips touched hers.

Passion overtook her as his lips melted into hers. She didn't fight him nor did she want to. Their kiss held more passion then anything she ever experienced with Stefan. He wasted little time on foreplay as he grabbed her out of the chair and carried her towards the bed, his lips never left hers. Laying her down on the bed he took off his shirt revealing his muscular body. She smiled breathing heavily, her body craved him.

"Tell me" his eyes were intense

"What?" her breath was heavy she wanted him to be near her

"You know what I want to hear" he purposely stayed away from her making her yearn for him

Her heart was racing at a million miles per second, she prompted herself up on the bed placing her hand on Damon's face and pulling him towards her "It's you Damon. You're the one I want" she pulled him in for a passionate kiss as a wave of ecstasy hit her.

The sound of an alarm clock awoke Elena from a deep sleep. She sat up on the bed her heart was beating at an accelerated rate. It took her a few minutes to differentiate reality from the dream. She had to look around a few times to make sure that Damon wasn't really there.

"It's just a dream" she reassured herself

A knock at the door shifter her attention.

"Come in"

Jenna peeked into her room "Just want to make sure you were up" she smiled at her "Breakfast will be ready in five"

Elena nodded and Jenna closed the door behind her.

Elena barely remembered getting dressed, breakfast or the conversation she has with Jenna and Jeremy as they drove to school. Walking down the crowded hallway her thoughts kept drifting to the dream she had. Her efforts to think of other things failed as the image of Damon shirtless kept popping into her head. Almost on constant replay she kept seeing Damon kiss her over and over. Her head was spinning with all the dreams she ever had about Stefan none were ever that vivid.

"Hey" as always Stefan appeared out of nowhere

"Hi" Elena purposefully was looking ahead to avoid any eyes contact

"You OK? You seem a bit flustered"

"I'm fine" she couldn't even face Stefan it was as if she had cheated on him

"Can we talk?" he was genuinely concerned

"I have class Stefan" she hated being cold to him, but if they were to stay apart she had to be and plus her mind was already drifting back towards the dream she had.

"During lunch then?" he wasn't pleased with her being so distant

"No" she stopped and faced him "Stefan I can't"

"You necklace?" his eyes stared at it

Her hand covered it "I found it this morning"

"Where?" he didn't like someone else being in her room knowing fully well that she lost when she was kidnapped

"It was on my neck when I woke up" she didn't care to explain it further.

"Damon?"

The mere mention of Damon made her feel guilty again "Stefan I have to go" she turned away from him and briskly walked down the hallway.

The events of the day were pretty blurry her thoughts were only occupied with Damon. The words "It's you Damon. You're the one I want" kept replaying in her head over and over. No matter how hard she tried to brush it off as just a dream, the images and all that was said kept hunting her. _Was there some truth to that dream?_ she kept wondering. _Of course not, it was just a dream _she tried to comfort herself_ I love Stefan _

"Ms. Gilbert?" the voice of her science teacher snapped her out of the daydream "Were you planning on joining us today?"

She looked around as the whole class including Caroline was staring at her. Flustered by the unwanted attention she smiled "I'm sorry"

"Please see me after class" his voice was stern.

She nodded and he went back to the lesson.

The bell couldn't have rung fast enough, seeing an opportunity for escape as several students approached the teacher with questions she slipped out of the classroom unnoticed. The last thing she needed today was a lecture.

"Wait up" Caroline walked briskly to catch up with her "Is everything alright?"

"Yes" she snapped "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Taken aback by her sudden attitude Caroline lowered her voice "Damon told me about your kidnapping. I just wanted to make sure you were OK"

"Of course" Elena's sweet nature came back "I'm fine. Thanks Caroline"

"You seem on edge" Caroline wasn't about to let her off the hook

"I've been through worse" Elena tried to reassure her "Just part of our normal everyday life" she attempted to joke with her.

Caroline laughed "What's normal about our life?"

She smiled at Caroline trying to think of a way to get out of this conversation.

"Are things any better between you and Stefan?" Caroline had no intention of ending their conversation.

Elena's mind was already drifting back to Damon, she kept seeing in her head him pushing her hair way and kissing her on the neck. The kiss they shared kept replaying itself. She could no longer control her own mind. The images were just too strong to ignore. It would have helped it she could talk to someone, perhaps hear it out of someone else's mouth that it was only a dream and it meant nothing. Maybe it would have helped, but the only someone else in front of her was Caroline and as much as she liked her she still carried a lot of mistrust towards her after she spied on her and Stefan for Katherine.

She shook her head "I really should get to my next class" she gave Caroline a quick smile and rushed off in the completely opposite direction of where her next classroom was situated.

Reaching a point of almost running she barged into the nearby bathroom. Her mind kept putting in the images of Damon into, his voice was imprinted in her mind "This is what you really want". She tried to be rational about the whole situation, but somewhere deep inside she knew exactly why the dream had such a profound effect on her. She did her best to push those thoughts away not about to deal with what her sub consciousness was telling her.

"I love Stefan" she looked at her own reflection "I love Stefan" she kept repeating the words attempting to push any other thoughts far away. It wasn't something that she had to make herself believe. She did love Stefan and being apart didn't change things and she wasn't about to let some meaningless dream change anything either.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie stood behind her

Elena looked toward her, eyes welling up in tears "I'm so confused Bonnie" she finally broke down.

Bonnie rushed to her hugging her tight "What's wrong?"

"It's just a dream" Elena kept repeating through the tears "I don't know why I'm so upset"

Bonnie looked at her "What dream?"

Elena fought the urge to confess about her thoughts of Damon, but nobody would have her back more than Bonnie. She knew she could trust her and so she spilled everything almost in one breath. Telling her in full detail about the dream she had and how it has been bothering her all day.

Bonnie listened patiently and after Elena was done gave her a reassuring smile "You can't work yourself up like that. You right it's only a dream"

Elena wiped her tears away "I don't know why it's bothering me this much"

Seeing her friend in pain wasn't something Bonnie would allow and even though she promised Jeremy to slow down on magic she had to help Elena out.

"Look if it's really bothering you. I know a spell"

Elena quickly perked up. Of course Bonnie was the right person to help her deal with this. "What will it do?"

"It will reveal your true feelings" Bonnie reached into her backpack and took out a notebook and a pen. Opening the notebook she ripped out a blank sheet of paper and handed it to Elena along with a pen "Now press the pen against the paper with your right hand and give me your left hand"

Elena followed her directions

"Close your eyes" Bonnie took Elena's hand and closed her eyes along with her.

Concentrating her lips moved as she read a spell until she heard the pen moving against the paper. As Elena finished writing Bonnie let go of her hand and opened her eyes. Elena was standing her eyes were still closed. Bonnie didn't look at what was written on the paper and folded it.

"Open your eyes" Bonnie held on to the folded paper.

Elena looked at Bonnie and her gaze instantly fell upon the folded piece of paper. Her heart rate accelerated as thoughts began to flood back into her head. She didn't remember what just happened but her mind was a completely blank for the time that Bonnie did her spell.

Bonnie handed her the paper "All your answers are in there"

Elena was almost afraid to touch the paper let alone open it. As sure as she was that she would see Stefan's name written there still there were doubts in her head. Was she really ready to know the whole truth and was she ready to deal with the consequences of knowing. Her hand shook as she took the paper from Bonnie's hand. Occupied completely by her thoughts she failed to see as Bonnie wiped blood away from her nose. Elena thoughts were only with that name written on that piece of paper.

"Do you want me to leave?" Bonnie couldn't understand why Elena still didn't look at it

"No" Elena would need Bonnie's help no matter what name was on that piece of paper.

Taking a deep breath she unfolded the paper.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thank you for all the reviews and add's. I truly appreciate them. I'll begin every new chapter with an excerpt of the previous one. Hope you enjoy and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. **

_Elena looked at Bonnie and her gaze instantly fell upon the folded piece of paper. Her heart rate accelerated as thoughts began to flood back into her head. She didn't remember what just happened but her mind was a completely blank for the time that Bonnie did her spell._

_Bonnie handed her the paper "All your answers are in there"_

_Elena was almost afraid to touch the paper let alone open it. As sure as she was that she would see Stefan's name written there still there were doubts in her head. Was she really ready to know the whole truth and was she ready to deal with the consequences of knowing. Her hand shook as she took the paper from Bonnie's hand. Occupied completely by her thoughts she failed to see as Bonnie wiped blood away from her nose. Elena thoughts were only with that name written on that piece of paper._

_"Do you want me to leave?" Bonnie couldn't understand why Elena still didn't look at it_

_"No" Elena would need Bonnie's help no matter what name was on that piece of paper._

_Taking a deep breath she unfolded the paper.

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Elena's eyes froze on the top part of the paper unable to look down where ink clearly spelled out a name. Too many fears were holding her back. She hated herself for asking Bonnie to do the spell it only placed more doubt into her head. Again the same thoughts rushed into her head "What if it wasn't Stefan?" She couldn't deal with that, all the hurdles she had to overcome to be with him and how much her life has changed since he entered it. Damon has always been the excess baggage that went along with him. She accepted that, but it didn't mean she had to like it.

"Well" Bonnie was just as curious

"I can't look" Elena folded the paper back up and handed it to Bonnie.

"Did you want me to look?" Bonnie took the paper but hesitated to look.

"Yes" Elena tensed up preparing for the worst

As Bonnie began to unfold the paper Elena suddenly grabbed it out her hand "No, I can't" she crumbled up the paper in her hand and threw it in the garbage can. "It's Stefan. I don't need some spell to tell me that" Elena made up her mind.

"Ok" Bonnie didn't agree with her sudden change of attitude, but being a good friend meant supporting her.

"Thanks Bonnie" Elena still wasn't fully convinced she made the right choice but she was sticking to it "You really helped me"

She hugged her and almost ran out of the bathroom as the temptation to reach into the garbage and look at the paper was become too great to ignore.

Bonnie waited till the coast was clear and grabbed the paper out of the garbage. As she unfolded the paper she let out a gasp seeing Damon's name written on it. Tearing up the paper into little pieces she didn't stop until it was impossible to piece it back together and then she separated it into the two garbage cans to make sure that Elena had no chance of finding it.

"She must never know" Bonnie said out loud as she threw the last of it away and exited the bathroom.

Elena wondered in the empty hallway. Her thoughts were still occupied with Damon and there was at least half an hour before the classes would let out. Figuring it would be useless to attend the rest of her classes as it would be impossible for her to concentrate on anything today she decided to skip the rest of her classes.

Exiting the school she walked along the street heading towards the woods. It would be a long walk just long enough to clear her head. She fought the urge to think of Damon as images of him crept into her head. It made no sense that Damon would be the one whom she had feeling for all of the sudden. This was Damon she was thinking off the same Damon who didn't hesitate to break her brother's neck. The last person she should be thinking off was him.

Of course Damon had his good qualities. He was always there when she needed him and no matter how much he voiced his hate for Stefan was always there to help him no matter what he proclaim the cause was. She admired that about him, but it didn't overshadow the darkness within him, that darkness is something that still had her somewhat afraid of him. He was like a wild animal no matter how much you train it, it can still snap at a moment's notice, she saw that when he attacked Jeremy and then there was his selfishness. How easily he decided to kill Caroline when she was turned purely because she would be an inconvenience.

It was Stefan who was the rational type, who would bend every rule out there so that Elena would be happy. Stefan was the one always there for her, the one she loved and the one who gave her a second chance at life. She owed everything to him no dream would ever change that.

"Elena?"

Lost in her thoughts she completely lost track of time, responding to her name being called she realized that she was deep in the woods. Looking around she was confused by her surroundings.

"Damon?" she finally caught sight of him "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same of you" he wasn't about to divulge any information.

"I…I just needed a quiet place" she was still looking around trying to figure out where she was.

"Can't get any quieter then middle of the woods" he looked her over trying to figure out what was on her mind.

"Did you follow me?" her aggravation grew instantly. The last thing she wanted was to be alone in the middle of nowhere with him.

"Aren't you full of yourself?" he smirked

Her hand found its way to her necklace and something clicked in her hand.

"Were you in my room last night?" her aggravation transformed into anger.

Looking at her hand he knew what she was referring to "Yes" he had no problem with telling her the truth.

"Why can't I remember?" her anger was no were near extinguished

"Maybe you hit your head or something" he enjoyed seeing her confused

"Did you hypnotize me?" she demanded to know.

As he smiled slightly everything became clear in her head. If Damon was in her room last night and hypnotized her he could have pull all kinds of thoughts into her head including her wanting him and he could have easily manipulated her dream so that she would think of him.

"You're pathetic" she didn't give him a chance to respond and stormed off.

She pace was increasing by the second as her anger towards Damon grew. Everything made perfect sense to her now, but it was anger towards herself that ate away at her. How could she doubt even for a second her love for Stefan. It was as if she completely betrayed him with even contemplating that there was a chance that she had genuine feelings for Damon. She hated him for manipulating her so easily and not "as he so often proclaimed" caring for what she wanted.

It was her focus on that anger the made her pay little attention to her surroundings. It wasn't until she felt a burning pain and fell on the ground that she realized something wasn't right. At first she assumed that she tripped over something as she tried to get up the pain was so excruciating that she dropped back down. Her left leg felt as if it was on fire, the pain was unbearable. She screamed out as it all hit her at once.

Damon was by her side instantly but she was already losing consciousness.

"What happened?" he tried to look her over

"My leg" she cried "It burns"

He spotted the problem immediately. Her exposed leg had two puncture wounds just an inch apart, blood was slowly sipping out of them. Her leg was already becoming swollen.

"You've been bitten" he tried to elevate her leg

"By what" she was barely hanging on

"Snake" he took a closer look at the bite marks "I can't tell what kind"

"Take me to the hospital" she pleaded her voice was so weak he doubted that she would hang on for much longer

"You won't make it" he leaned over her "I have to drink to get the poison out"

"No" she tried to muster up some strength to refuse him

"No is not an option" he wasn't about to let her fear claim her life "If I thought you would make it to the hospital I would take you there"

"We could have been there already" her voice was frail again

"You clearly don't realize how far away from town we are" he was stern "There aren't many options other than you dying."

She was about to protest when she lost consciousness. He bit into her wound drinking rapidly stopping only when he tasted clean blood. He looked at her she was extremely pale from the loss of blood. He managed to open her mouth and bit into his wrist. As blood started to pour out of his wrist he lowered it to her mouth letting her ingest it. It only took a few seconds for the color to come back into her cheeks. She opened her eyes feeling refreshed and energetic.

"What happened?" she stood up refusing to let him help her.

"You fainted" it made more sense to lie to her other then go through the lengthy explanation followed by a lecture on how he should have respected her wishes.

"Really?" she was confused on how she could have fainted when she felt so great

"Yea" he had lying down to an art

He hoped that she wouldn't look down at her leg. The wound was healing but not as quickly as he would have liked.

"Let me get you home" he tried to make sure she wouldn't remember what happened

"No" she had no intention so spending any time with him "I'll find my own way"

"Really?" he laughed "Do you know where you are?"

As the images of her dream began to bombard her brain again she had to get away from him.

"Damon, I can take care of myself" she turned away from him and headed deeper into the woods.

"OK" he yelled after her.

As dusk approached quickly Elena was still navigating her way through the woods. She knew how lost she was but refused to let fear take over. As much as she regretted not taking Damon up on his offer and now being completely lost, she still thought that this was the right choice. _Staying away from Damon for a few days will make all the difference _she thought _I'll forget about the dream and everything will go back to normal._

Sound of dried branches breaking and dried leaves crackling shifted her made her stop dead in her tracks. The sound was coming from right behind her. Initially she thought of Damon and was relieved that he followed her and now will show her the way out, the anger took over for the fact that he could respect her wishes at least this one time. She swung around about to give him a piece of her mind when she froze mid turn. Staring at her was a grey wolf.

"Damon" she yelled hoping that he did follow her as she stood motionless staring at the wolf.

Growling was the only sound that followed in response. The wolf bared its teeth at her preparing for an attack.

Feverishly her mind searched for the right answer. Of course she'd seen enough programs and heard enough lectures of how to act in such a situation, but none of it stuck or maybe her head was just blank from the fear. In any case there was no way she would be able to get out of this situation. Some thoughts began to come back slowly as the wolf still stood in front of her bearing its teeth and growling.

Show no fear was the first thing she remembered, but it was too late as her body was already trembling from the fear. Throw something at the bear was the next though that popped into her head. But she wasn't facing a bear and wasn't it get on the ground into a fetal positions. She had no time to figure out the logistics as the wolf took a few steps towards her. She noticed a large rock near her and slowly bent down to get it never taking her eyes off the wolf. He advanced a few more steps towards her but still remained a few feet away. Taking a deep breath she swung her arm back and threw the rock at the wolf. The rock flew towards him, but she truly underestimated the wolf's position as the rock flew over him and landed several feet behind him. The rock flying at him seemed to set him off as he lunged at her.

Elena closed her eyes and screamed preparing for the worse. Few seconds later she felt nothing and opened her eyes. The wolf lay dead on the ground and Damon was looking at her with a smirk on his face. She wanted to run up to him and thank him for saving her, but it was her stubborn nature that made her question him being there.

"I told you not to follow me" she actually looked angry

"You're welcome" his sarcastic tone covered up his disappointment on how she reacted to him. If was Stefan there instead of him she would have been extremely thankful and happy to see him.

"Thank you" she realized how harsh she sounded before "I just….it's just…." she was becoming tired of finding the right words and acting distant from everybody this whole day "I'm just really tired"

"Well" he walked up to her and pulled her close to him "Let me take you home"

His hands wrapped tightly around her waist were definitely too close for comfort, the images of them kissing took over her head again. She wanted to push him away, but the strength to fight left her.

"Fine" she gave up "Take me home"

He leaned in towards her their faces just inches apart. Her heart was racing, she must have blanked out for a second only realizing what was going on when her lips met his.


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